Workmen's advocate., 1887-01-01
ORGANIZED LABOR.
HOW CAPITAL REGARDS THE
 VARIOUS BODIES.
The Conservative Unions - Praise From Capitalists The Changed Position of the Knights of
 LabOr-Best Hated,
 The Socialists.

If intelligent workingmen were to place confidence in the capitalist press, they would probably come to the conclusion, from reading the in- cendiary articles directed against la Dor organizations, that the labor movement was about to collapse for want of cohesion among the organ lzed bodies.
 There are one or two things that must strike the attentive observer as significant: The persistent attacks made by the organs of capital upon the Socialists, and the evident en- deavor to foment discord between the Trades Unions and the Knights of Labor. "Dvide and conquer, has ever been the motto of the capi- talist class, which sees in the union of workmen imminent danger to the established order And the venom of the reptile press is graded in re- spect to the various organizations &C., cording as thelr objects are favora- ble to the workers and relatively dangerous to the exploiters.
 Thus it is not strange that these newspapers have unstlnted praise for the most conservative organizations, such as Brotherhood of the Locomo- tive Engineers and the railway COIL ductors' organization. These associa- tions do not strike to better the con- dition of others, but contine them- selves to their own affairs strictly; much less do they contemplate a change of system. They seem to be perfectly satisfied to perpetuate wage slavery as long as they can command tolerably decent wages for them selves. And the bosses, regarding them as the least dangerous, and needing proletarians to fill up the gaps in their ranks, are sagacious enough to keep them there by flat tery and comparatively good wages.
 Other conservative trades unions, though not quite so docile as the ones mentioned, are still not suffi- ciently advanced to demand and work for radical changes. As long as they simply contend for higher wages, or against reduction of wages, they can be borne with, for the cap- italists who employ them can easily recover their relative position of su- periority by raising the price of com modities, and the less fortunate class of workers are compelled to ''foot the bill."
 While the Knights of Labor occu- pied an aggressive position they came in for considerable adverse criticism, especially when it was generally be- lieved by the capitalists that tha Or der contemplated active prarticipa- tion in politics. The assurance of "prominent" Knights that the Or der would not be used for that pur- pose, and the active opposition to progress in that line by the General Master Workman, seems to have al- layed their fears on that score. Strikes, and even riots may be put up with occasionally, political ac- tion, never. The result of this pol icy of inactivity is a decided loss of interest in the organization by it's members, and the capitalistic press is now batting Powderly's back in a manner that is quite friendly. His opposition, or at least, neutrality, in regard to the eight hour move ment last Spring, was also friendly turn which was highly appreciated by the bosses, and was thankfully accepted.
 The advanced trades unions, such as form the major portion of the Central Labor Unions in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and other large cities, are looked upon by the employing class with much distrust. These unions have large sprinkling of active socialists among their mem berships, and the result is that they